Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 3,227 residents, it is a town in Oxfordshire, South East. 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Yarnton does the important things well, at a cost. The local economy does well: the mean household earns £58,973 a year. Getting around on foot or by bus is easy: on the way to work, 23% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Prices are high against local incomes: the median home sold for £425,000, 6.9 years of area income. Put together, the subjects come to an A− overall, ranking #20 of 38 in Oxfordshire. Set against the rest, it does better than 77% of UK towns. The rest of its grades are middling: B for safety and B for hazard risk.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Yarnton does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Yarnton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 28 buildings inside Yarnton’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
4% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Yarnton. Best known first.
Historic houseBlenheim Palace4.3 km outside town, to the northwest
Historic houseWoodstock Palace4.4 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumOxford Bus Museum4 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumSoldiers of Oxfordshire Museum4.6 km outside town, to the northwestAttractionAttractionWalton Well Drinking Fountain4.8 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Yarnton.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 36% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
75% of commuters drove, above Oxfordshire’s towns (69%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. Yarnton counts 1 jobs per working resident. About 6% of its commuters stay in Yarnton for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 44% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 45.1. Its one school is below. Key Stage 2 results at the 9 primary schools within 3 km: two thirds of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Fletcher Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 210 | A− |
The owner-occupied share of households is 69%. Private rents average £1,304 a month across the Cherwell council area. 109 standard sales inside Yarnton’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £425,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £509,000 | 46 |
| Semi-detached | £386,859 | 40 |
| Terraced | £345,000 | 16 |
| Flat or maisonette | £191,250 | 7 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
People 65 and over make up 22% of the town, above Oxfordshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Half of Yarnton is older than 42.6, half younger. Degrees are held by 38% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Yarnton | Oxfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.3% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 4.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 38% | 42% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Oxfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Yarnton has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 1.2 miles away. 4.4% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, between Oxfordshire’s towns (3.5%) and England’s towns (5.2%). A disability affects 16% of people in the town.
| Census 2021 | Yarnton | Oxfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 86% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.4% | 3.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 15% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
137 crimes and 25 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Yarnton’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 58% of recorded crime. Violent crime ran at 22.7 per 1,000 residents a year, higher than Oxfordshire’s towns (18.6) and near England’s towns (22).
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Yarnton’s listed buildings include the Church of St Bartholomew, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up 4% of the total, below Oxfordshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. It has one registered historic park or garden.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
28 listed buildings in Yarnton, 1 of them Grade I.
Yarnton Manor and Attached Wall and Gateway: Photo: Motacilla · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Base and Shaft of Churchyard Cross Approximately 6 Metres South of South Porch of Church of St Bartholomew: Photo: Simon Burchell · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hill Farmhouse: Photo: Simon Burchell · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Quainton's Cottage: Photo: Motacilla · CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yarnton | 3,227 | — | A− | C− | B | B+ |
| Kidlington | 14,640 | 1.1 | A− | C | B− | B |
| Wolvercote | 1,328 | 1.8 | — | D− | C− | A |
| Woodstock | 3,522 | 3.3 | A+ | C | B+ | A+ |
| Eynsham | 5,321 | 3.4 | A+ | C+ | B+ | A− |
| Long Hanborough | 3,034 | 4 | A+ | C+ | A | A |
| Freeland | 1,520 | 4.2 | — | C | A+ | A |
| Chawley | 1,127 | 5.1 | — | C+ | A+ | A |
Wolvercote, Freeland and Chawley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.6 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Bartholomew.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £425,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £191,250, terraced houses £345,000, semi-detached houses £386,859 and detached houses £509,000.
Town in Oxfordshire, England
Yarnton is a built-up area of 3,227 people, in the Cherwell council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.